Golfer&#39;s accessory



April 1950 E. MCK; MILLER r 2,503,586

GOLFER S ACCESSORY Filed Feb, 11, 1946 INVENTOR. fme/y M;/\/7 MY/er Patentecl Apr. 11, 1950 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE GOLFERS ACCESSORY Emery McKeen Miller, Denver, 0010.

Application February 11, 1946, Serial No. 646,823 3 Claims. (01. 36-1) My invention relates to accessories for golf players and particularly'to an-accessory. for facili" tating accurate putting of the golf ball.

In the game of golf the art of putting requires great accuracy of alinement of the players stroke and the required direction of movement of the ball. Slight inaccuracies in alinement may result in no additional strokes during play along the fairway and in approaching the green.

however, when putting the same angle of misl alinement may easily cause the ball to miss the cup entirely. After a player has acquired a reasonable amount of skill he finds that a large proportion of his extra strokes are due to inaccurate putting. Putting is a part of the game in which each person may adopt his own style or form and still attain high accuracy; however, all successful styles of putting require accurate alinement of the direction of swing and the required path of movement of the ball. Accordingly it is an object of my invention to provide an accessoryfor golf players which provides an improved device for facilitating accurate alinement of the ball and the stroke of the golf club.

It is another object of my invention to provide an improved device for facilitating accurate putting of a golf ball and which shall be readily available to the player at all times.

Further objects and advantages of my invention will become apparent as the following description proceeds and the features of novelty which characterize my invention will be pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this specification.

For a better understanding of my invention, reference may be had to the accompanying drawing in which:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of a pair of shoes embodying my invention and illustrates the method of alining a golf ball for putting;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the toe of a shoe il- I lustrating a modification of my invention;

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2 showing another embodiment; and

Fig. 4 is another similar view showing a further embodiment of my invention.

Referring now to the drawing, I have shown in Fig. 1 a pair of golf shoes I and 2 in a position in which they might be placed when a right handed player wearing them is about to putt a ball 3 toward a cup 4. The position of the right shoe l is not important, as it depends on individual style and is placed in a position comfortable to the player. Regardless of inball, that is, parallel to the line 6.

div'idual style, it has been found that, for nearly all players, it facilitates accurate putting if the foot nearer the cup is placed in alinement with the ball on a line at right angles to the required path of movement of the ball toward the cup, the greater portion of the players weight also being on that root. In Fig. 1 the'left shoe 2 of the player has been shown with its principal longitudinal axis in alinement with the center of the ball 3 on a line b at right angles to a line 6 which is the common center line of the ball and the cup l. In the drawing, it has been assumed that the green is level and that the required path of the ball is the center line 6.

In order to facilitate the alinement of the 'ball by the player so that it lies as shown in Fig. 1, I provide markings such that the player can readily determine the required alinement of his Ioot with bah and its intended path of movement. The surface of the forward portion 1 of the upper of theshoe -2 is provided with crossed lines 8 and 9. These lines may be formed in any suitable manner so that they are readily visible to the player; in other words, there must be sufiicient contrast between the lines and the surface of the upper forming their background, the contrast being attained either by color or by contour. In Fig. 1, the lines 8 and 9 have been illustrated as formed by suitable stitching. When the player is taking his stance for putting and is addressing the ball 3, he paces his'left foot so that the line 8 is in alinement with the center line 5 of the ball; the line 9 is then in alinement with the intended direction of the The lines 8 and 9 thus enab.e the player easily to determine the correct alinement of the ball, and the line along which he must stroke the ball in order to putt it accurately. The presence of the readily visible lines 8 and 9 on the players shoe make it possible for him to aline his body and address the ball in the same manner each time he putts and thereby facilitate increased consistency in his putting form and accuracy.

The markings embodying my invention may be formed in a variety of ways, and in Figs. 2, 3 and 4 I have shown by way of example, three additional embodiments. In Figs. 2 and 3 the fOrward upper surface I of the shoe 2 has been shown with the toe, as indicated at H], colored dark in contrast with the remaining surface. The rear edge ll of the colored area is made in a straight line corresponding to the line 9 of Fig. 1, so that it may be used in the same manner as the line 9. In Fig. 2, a contrasting light colored line I2 is provided in the dark toe portion In in a position corresponding to the line 8 of Fig. 1. In Fig. 3, a dark line l3 extends rearwardly from the toe l over the upper surface I and corresponds to the line 8 of Fig. 1. Both these lines l2 and I3 are used by the player in the same manner as the line 8 of Fig. 1. The arrangements of Figs. 2 and 3 provide an appearance of the shoes similar to that of the conventional capped toe shoe, but with the advantage of the present invention.

The embodiment of Fig. 4 is similar to that of Fig. 1 except that dark colored lines 14 and 1 l5 corresponding respectively to the lines 8 and 9 are provided on the light colored forward por tion I of the shoe. The lines are thus in sharp contrast to the background and this arrangement may be preferred by some players.

From the foregoing, it is readily apparent that I have provided a simple and effective accessory device for golf players which facilitates accurate putting and which is readily available for such use at any time.

While I have described specific forms of my invention, other arrangements will readily occur to those skilled in the art. I do not, therefore,

desire my invention to be limited to the specific constructions illustrated and described, and I intend by the appended claims to cover all modifications within the spirit and scope of my invention.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. An accessory for golf players comprising a shoe for the player's foot, said shoe having an upper the major portion of the surface of which is of one color and the toe of which is of a contrasting color, the line of division between said major portion and said toe being a straight line at right angles to the principal longitudinal axis of said shoe and means providing a readily visible straight longitudinal line on said upper at right angles to said line of division whereby the player may aline said longitudinal line with a ball to be struck and said line of division with the direction of intended movement of the ball.

2. An accessory for golf players comprising a shoe for the player's foot, said shoe having an upper the major portion of the surface of which is of a light color and the toe of which is of a dark contrasting color, the line of division between the light and dark colored areas being a straight line at right angles to the principal longitudinal axis of said shoe, and a straight longitudinal line of said light color extendng forwardly from said major portion over said toe at right angles to said line of division whereby the player may aline said longitudinal line with a ball to be struck and said line of division with the direction of intended movement of the ball.

3. An accessory for golf players comprising a.

shoe for the players foot, said shoe having an upper the major portion of the surface of which is of a light color and the toe of which is of a. dark contrasting color, the line of division between the light and dark colored areas being a, straight line at right angles to the principal longitudinal axis of said shoe, and a straight longitudinal line of said dark color extending from said toe rearwardly over said major portion at right angles to said line of division whereby the player may aline said longitudinal line with a. ball to be struck and said line of division with the direction of intended movement of the ball.

EMERY McKEEN MILLER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date D. 97,524 Geayer Nov. 19, 1935 801,899 Mcquiston Oct. 17, 1905 1,872,025 Baynard et al Aug. 16, 1932 

